US patent D533179 was issued for a Cross shaped USB Drive. The fact that the USB drive is shaped in the form of a cross pulls upon many different forms of art that also uses a cross. In fact, the only reason someone would specifically want this specific form would be if they were devout Christians who wanted a cross as the shape for such a device. I am surprised that this was granted a patent because it seems that the "invention" didn't really meet the criteria for patentability.
1) The novelty of the device - based on prior art, there is no way that the cross shaped USB should have been granted the patent.
2) Obviousness - this criteria is not really applicable here since the invention is not really a combination of multiple elements in prior art.
Since we did not discuss design patents this semester, does anyone know if this patent follows the requirements specific for design patents as opposed to utility patents? Is it possible for practically any design to receive a patent?
(Information obtained from http://www.patentlysilly.com/patent.php?patID=D533179)
For me, I actually think this is absolutely obvious since a person who is skilled in the prior art should be able to come up with this product. It's essentially just a new design for a USB drive...
ReplyDeleteUSPTO patent examiners definitely need to be trained more rigorously.
What a coincidence, I did one of my posts on this same patent! This creation is not novel at all, seeing that it just changed the shape of a pre-existing, perfectly functioning universal serial bus flash drive. (Agreed with Tian on this point.)
ReplyDeleteI believe the patent holds very little merit also. A situation where the patent would be valid is if the cross shape improved the functionality or performance of the USB. Also, the patent could be granted if the market profit was larger if consumers happened to prefer the cross shape.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree that this isn’t very novel—I am sure there are other companies that make USB drives with this shape without thinking too much about it. Wow, when was this even patented? I honestly think that it is crazy how it went through. And what is up with the check marks on the cross? (were those explained in the patent too?)
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